Jake Vold takes the go-round win on the first night of the WNFR. Photo Credit: Canadian Professional Rodeo Association

Canadian cowboys got off to a fast start at the 2017 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

Three time Canadian champion, Jake Vold, wasted no time in resuming his signature lights-out performances in Las Vegas. Vold who finished second in the world a year ago and won three rounds and $165,000 in the Thomas and Mack Arena, picked up where he left off with a tremendous 87.5 on Kesler Rodeo’s Oakridge. The win netted the Airdrie cowboy the $26,230 first place cheque and moved him to third in the world standings with $138,391 in the bank, now $87,000 back of season leader and defending world champion Tim O’Connell.

“It’s a good confidence builder,” Vold noted of his first night ride. “There are a lot of horses here and going at that kind of money, I find quite exciting. It’s keeps your blood flowing. I need to win a lot of money to have a chance at a world title. To get the win right off the bat is definitely key. Hopefully a guy can keep it rolling and see what happens after the 10 days”.

Provost, Alberta steer wrestler, Scott Guenthner, did not appear to feel any nerves as he made his first-ever appearance at the WNFR posting a solid 4.3 second run to be among a cluster of bulldoggers with that time. Guenthner split 3/4/5/6/6 for a nice $7530 start to his Finals. Cochrane’s Tanner Milan, at his second Las Vegas Finals, was 6.6 seconds on his steer and finished out of the money. Defending world champion, Tyler Waguesback, won the round with a 3.5 second run to keep his repeat title hopes very much alive. He sits third in the world at $140,000, $33,000 behind Helena, Montana dogger, Ty Erickson.

In the saddle bronc riding, defending world champion, Zeke Thurston of Big Valley, Alberta, closed the gap on the season leader and 2015 World Champion, Jacobs Crawley. The 23 year-old Canadian now trails Crawley by just $9,000 after a 5/6/6 split on the Calgary Stampede stallion Timely Delivery. The second generation bronc rider was 85 points on the horse on this night, as the pair reprised their July Calgary Stampede matchup that ended with Thurston collecting 90 points. Crawley finished out of the money on a night that saw Oklahoma cowboy Hardy Braden win the round with an 87.5 score. Utah’s Ryder Wright (86.5) and 2015 Canadian champion Cody DeMoss (85.5) won 3rd and 4th respectively on a couple of Canadian broncs, C5 Rodeo’s Black Hills and Outlaw Buckers’ three time Canadian champion Lunatic Party.

Clay Elliott and Layton Green, the other two Canadians in the bronc riding, both managed 79 scores on night number one.

Defending world champion team roping heeler, Jeremy Buhler of Arrowwood, caught a leg and was 9.3 seconds with partner Tom Richards after Canadian partner, Levi Simpson, finished just out of the 2017 WNFR. Buhler remains in 15th spot in the world standings in a round that was won by Kaleb Driggers and reigning All Around Champion, Junior Nogueira, who also sit atop the world standing, both with over $170,000 on the season.

And in the bull riding, Calgary’s 2016 Canadian champion, Jordan Hansen, first Canadian to qualify for the WNFR since 2001, was bucked off by Beutler and Son Rodeo’s Lumberjack. Hansen came to Las Vegas in 13th place overall. The round was won by Trey Benton lll, as he rode the Big Stone bull, Mortimer, to 90 points. Joe Frost, he Utah bull rider rode Outlaw Buckers’ Bomb Shell to 84 points for 5th place in the round. 2017 Canadian champion, Garrett Smith from Rexburg, Idaho, narrowed the gap on season leader Sage Kimsey as he posted an 85.5 point ride for 4th place in the round while Kimsey, the three-time titleist, finished out of the money with a 79 mark. Smith moves to within $20,000 of the leader as he vies for his first world crown.

Day three of the K-Days Rodeo wraps up a successful, record-tying weekend at Northlands Coliseum. All athletes, two and four-legged, put on a great show and ensured a few more fans of the sport will return for the Canadian Finals Rodeo this November. Award-winning country artist Corb Lund sang the National Anthem and got the crowd set for a great night of action. It was a memorable start to a night of jam packed, rodeo-action. The final seven athletes titled champions included:

Bareback Riding: Winner: JR Vezain Stock: CS D39 Make Up Face

Bull Riding: Winner: Sage Kimzy Stock: C5B 1102 Bid Dip

Saddlebronc Riding: Winner: Zeke Thurston Stock: NS 242 Get Smart

Team Roping: Winner: Dustin Bird & Russell Cardoza Score: 402

Tie-Down Roping: Winner: Tuf Cooper Score: 8.1

Steer Wrestling: Winner: Straws Milan Score: 2.9

Ladies Barrel Racing: Winner: Crystal Christman Score: 14.726

All weekend long these cowboys and cowgirls competed for a piece of the more than $400,000 prize purse and a chance to compete for national titles at the Canadian Finals Rodeo, November 8-12 at Northlands Coliseum. For 138 years, Northlands has taken great pride in showcasing the western way of life. While rodeo comes to the campus for a few days in summer and a week in the fall it is the rich history that drives Northlands to showcase and share with its neighbours and friends. As the inaugural K-Days Rodeo comes to an end the excitement, food, rides, shows and attractions are still in full force on the K-Days grounds until July 30!

The Teepee Creek Stampede ran this year from July 13-16 in Teepee Creek, Alberta. The rodeo is one of the oldest in Alberta, last year celebrating their centennial, with the first ever TeePee Creek Stampede being held in 1916. For many years the Teepee Creek Stampede was the largest amateur rodeo in the north and one of the largest amateur events in Canada. In 2007, the decision was made to sanction the event as a Canadian Pro Rodeo Association professional rodeo. Teepee Creek Stampede brings some of the very best cowboys and cowgirls in the world to compete in front of massive crowds, in 2015 alone they boasted 15,000 spectators to the event. The committee has also done an excellent job of continuing to embrace the history of the stampede by showcasing local events such as the Wild Cow Milking, Wild Horse Race, and The Rawhide Race, as well as including chuckwagon racing and specialty acts to entertain and thrill the crowds.

This year, the official photographer for the event was Nicky Rae Photography who shared some of her fantastic photos with WHR below. Rae says, “I am honoured to have wrapped up my first year as the official photogpraher of the Teepee Creek Stampede Pro Rodeo. It was a busy 4 days in the wild with mounted shooting, barrel racing, cattle penning, a queen contest, pony (chuckwagons) and World Chuckwagon Association wagons, trick riders, wild horse and pony racers, great concerts and of course the standardly awesome pro rodeo action. Great announces that have rodeo in their soul, and speak it for all of us to hear. I choose carefully the events that I partner with because I pour my heart and soul into every one. When I was asked to photograph this event, I didn’t even need to think about the answer. This event holds so much history it is unbelievable. The best part? The folks that put this event on know how important and rare that is and they cherish it, even feature it. After all, you should do it with passion, or not at all. Congrats to the 2017 committee and competitors for a job well done.”

The formal announcement was made by the two organizations as they concluded an agreement that will see CWA partner with the CPRA to host the “Agribition Pro Rodeo” in 2016. The four performance rodeo will take place during Agribition, November 21 – 26 and is the first pro rodeo of its kind in Saskatchewan. The event will feature 16 top athletes from each of the seven major events who will be divided into two pools of eight competing in two performances each.

“Inviting the best cowboys and cowgirls in Rodeo to Agribition offers visitors a new entertainment experience. It is Agribition’s first time using this model and we intend to raise the fan experience and deliver a world-class event just like everything else we do,” explained Bruce Holmquist, CWA Rodeo Chair.

The roster will be based on the Pro Rodeo Canada standings at the end of the 2016 regular season and will be the inaugural event of the 2017 schedule. Top professional competitors from around the world will battle for $100,000 in prize money, giving rodeo fans in Saskatchewan high energy, action-packed rodeo to enjoy.

“We are excited to welcome Agribition into our rodeo family as we continue to move forward with our commitment to grow our sport in Canada,” noted CPRA President Murry Milan. “Regina has always been a great rodeo community and I know our rodeo athletes will look forward to competing at what will be an amazing kick-off to our season.”

“I got a couple of hours at the airport,” shrugged saddle bronc rider, Zeke Thurston, after his win at the Oldstoberfest Pro Rodeo this past weekend. “I was in St. George, Utah last night and got dropped off at the Salt Lake airport at about 2:30 in the morning, then flew to Calgary and my grandpa picked me up and drove me here.”

Despite the schedule, the 20-year-old Thurston posted the top score of the weekend in Olds, AB, with an 83.5-point ride on C5 Rodeo’s Black Hills to win $1,627. That will leave him 9th in the unofficial Pro Rodeo Canada bronc riding standings with just under $16,000 in earnings and bump the Big Valley, AB, cowboy from 12th to 5th in the Pro Rodeo Canada Series standings.

“This was the only one I made money at this week,” revealed Thurston, whose recent travels have taken him to the U.S. in search of a spot at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. “It doesn’t take much to turn things around. If you do something right that you’ve been having trouble with, the next day it’ll be twice as good. Then you can get on a roll and you can’t be beat.

“I’m zeroed in on my targets. There will be plenty of time after the season to look back. You have to be confident for good things to come your way. You have to believe in yourself.”

Utah’s Rhen Richard followed the tracks of Thurston to Olds. And, like him, won an Oldstoberfest championship stein, too.

“I left St. George at six this morning and got here at 11,” offered Richard, who topped the tie-down roping with an 8.0-second run on Saturday to win $2,211.

The 26-year-old, four-time CFR team roping qualifier can also relate to Thurston’s recent struggles on the rodeo trail.

“It’s been a long three weeks up here without winning much,” sighed Richard, who used Curtis Cassidy’s award-winning horse, Stick in Olds. “I was hoping to ride him a lot more up here this year and even down south but he’s been having health trouble. The last two times I’ve been on him, it’s worked out great.

“I think I have enough now (to qualify for the Canadian Final Rodeo). On paper, Clint (Arave) might have a chance if he won everything at the (Pro Rodeo Canada Series) finals. It would be nice to finally get to the CFR in the tie-down roping.”

It’s been a bit lonely for Curtis Cassidy on the pro rodeo trail. The Donalda, AB, cowboy has been without his sidekick for much of the summer and it’s showed.

“He (2010 Canadian tie-down roping horse of the year, Stick) has been having breathing problems,” relayed Cassidy, who was 24th in the Pro Rodeo Canada tie-down roping standings heading into last weekend. “I haven’t been on him much this summer at all. From about Calgary (Stampede) until Jasper, I was getting mounted on anything I could find.

“His throat has collapsed on one side and the other side is only partially open. We don’t know how it happened and we’ve been trying everything under the sun but nothing really helps. He can’t run calves very far because he gets short of breath.”

Cassidy won his biggest roping cheque since July 1 this past weekend at the inaugural Medicine Lodge Fall Roundup in Medicine Lodge, AB, for a rodeo-winning 9.0-second run.

‘The calves were good, at least for me. I like them big,” offered the 36 year-old. “When they’re bigger like that, it’s not easy to flank them. So I focused on having a good, strong flank and it worked.”

The $1,013 cheque will prove vitally important to his chances at qualifying for the Canadian Finals Rodeo in the roping. It should be enough to get the 29-time CFR qualifier to the Pro Rodeo Canada Series Finals at the Agrium Western Event Centre in Calgary on October 2-3, where the top ten in each event from the Series standings will compete.

“I’ve dug myself such a big hole,” concluded Cassidy, who has won just $2,800 since the beginning of July in the roping. “I need to keep winning as much as possible the rest of the way and then do good at those finals. The bulldogging’s been good all summer but if it wasn’t for the Pro Series finals (in Calgary), I wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in (heck) of getting to Edmonton in the roping.”

The win moves the reigning and eight-time Canadian Hi-Point champion into 9th in the Pro Rodeo Canada Series standings and bumps him up a spot in the overall standings.

Bareback rider, Kevin Langevin solidified his CFR qualification by winning in Medicine Lodge with an 83-point ride on C5 Rodeo’s White Water. The $737 cheque boosts the Rich Lake, AB, cowboy’s earnings to $12,538, good enough to leave him in the 12th and final CFR spot, almost two thousand dollars ahead of the injured Michael Solberg.

“I wanted to be able to rodeo hard this fall and not worry about the Canadian Finals Rodeo,” explained Layton Green. “My plan at the start of the year was to go to all the spring rodeos in Canada to get a head start.”

With a pair of cheques from long weekend stops in Armstrong and Merritt, BC, the Meeting Creek, AB, saddle bronc rider is a big step closer to accomplishing what he set out to do – qualify for both the CFR and the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

“It was a really good hit for me up here and down in the States,” offered the 21-year-old. “I’m now going to be rodeoing my butt off down south for September.”

Green matched up last Saturday night at the IPE and Stampede in Armstrong with a young Calgary Stampede horse named Xavier Joan. The result was an 86.75-point score, good enough for the bronc riding championship and a cheque worth $6,486.

“That’s a new horse that’s only been bucked a few times,” began the 2012 Canadian Novice Saddle Bronc champion. “But she’s just what you want. Jumped out and was awesome. And that rodeo is one of the coolest there is. Everybody is excited and the atmosphere is great.”

Just a few hours earlier, Green was 78 points at the Nicola Valley Pro Rodeo in nearby Merritt, good for a three way split of 6th and a cheque worth $62. Together, the paydays boost the third-year pro cowboy’s 2015 Pro Rodeo Canada earnings to $18,760, enough to push him solidly inside the top ten of the bronc riding standings with only five rodeos left on the Canadian pro rodeo schedule.

The biggest winner from the weekend was timed event cowboy, Morgan Grant, who split the steer wrestling win in Armstrong with a 4.2 second run, finished 2nd in the tie-down roping with a time of 7.9 seconds and placed third in the bulldogging in Merritt to win a total of $7,925. Despite the big cheque, the 2013 Canadian Hi-Point champion remains on the CFR bubble in both the tie-down roping (12th) and steer wrestling (11th) in the unofficial Pro Rodeo Canada standings.

A pair of young team ropers have also put themselves on the bubble. 21 year-old, Kyle Lucas and 20 year-old, Grady Branden placed 2nd in Merritt and split 5th in Armstrong to win $2,052 each. That will put Branden in 11th in the Canadian heading standings while Lucas will hold down the 12th and final qualifying spot in the heeling division. Both are tight races with less than $800 separating 9th through 12th in the heeling.

With only a half-dozen rodeos left on the Pro Rodeo Canada schedule, every cheque becomes increasingly important, no matter how many zeroes may be attached to it. Barrel racer, Rene Leclercq couldn’t agree more.

“It’s very important for me to be winning right now because I’m right on the bubble,” offered the 21- year-old, who is in her third year on the pro rodeo trail. “Getting to the CFR has been a life long dream since I was a little girl. If I got there, it would mean the world to me.”

Leclercq picked up $1,175 for a rodeo-winning time of 12.528-seconds at the Okotoks Pro Rodeo in Okotoks, AB, this past weekend. That will keep the Holden, AB, cowgirl in 13th spot in the unofficial Pro Rodeo Canada standings. But the gap between herself and Saskatchewan’s Kareen Warren, who holds down the 12th and final Canadian Finals Rodeo qualifying spot, has shrunk to $1,600.

“My mare, Flirt, worked really awesome for me,” began Leclercq. “She really likes those tiny little pens. I think she’d like the set-up in Edmonton. She’s a great indoor horse.”

“I also started to run my other horse (7-year-old, Flit) for the first time. She was a little new to the game at the start but now she’s working really good for me, too. So it’s nice that I have the two of them.”

Among the other winners in Okotoks was bullrider, Ty Pozzobon, who not only grabbed a first place cheque worth $1,474, but also posted the high marked bull ride of the 2015 Pro Rodeo Canada season.

“That bull was named Bull of the CFR last year,” said Pozzobon of his draw, Proper Ripped from Vold Rodeo. “The quicker you get out of the chute, the better he’ll buck. He was alright so I just nodded and the end result was 92 points.”

The win boosts Pozzobon’s unofficial Pro Rodeo Canada earnings to $24,448, an impressive total given the Okotoks’ stop was just the Merritt, BC, cowboy’s 19th rodeo of the season.

“I had a bad head injury from the PBR Canada finals in Saskatoon last November,” revealed Pozzobon. “I won my first rodeo in Camrose in April and then I got hurt again and didn’t come back again until after the Grande Prairie weekend at the end of May.”

“I’ve had to go to neurologists and everything because I’ve had about 10 concussions since 2012 so they wanted to make sure everything was ok. The doctor made it seem like maybe I should find a new hobby. But bullriding is all I’ve ever known. We did come to the conclusion that I can’t take too many more hits like that.”

A small cheque for $357 for a 7th place, 9.8-second run in the tie-down roping in Okotoks may turn out to be the most important of the season for Ky Marshall. It’s Marshall’s 3rd roping cheque of the season and throws him into the Pro Rodeo Canada All-Around race. The reigning Canadian All- Around champ, who has already solidified a spot at the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton in November in the bareback riding, now joins Josh Harden as the only competitors in the running for the coveted award.

Next up on the Pro Rodeo Canada schedule is the final Wrangler Canadian Pro Rodeo Tour stop at the IPE & Stampede in Armstrong, BC (Sept. 2-6) and the Nicola Valley Pro Rodeo in Merritt, BC (Sept. 5-6).

If Dayton Roworth finishes off the 2015 Pro Rodeo Canada season the way he began the campaign, he may find himself riding in a new season leader saddle next year. The 25-year-old had collected over $9,000 in earnings by mid-June while flirting with the number one spot in the Canadian steer wrestling standings.

“I got on a roll earlier in the year,” suggested Roworth, who first bought his pro card in 2010. “I figured some things out in the practice pen. And I’m getting more comfortable now. I know how to use my head a little more than when I started.”

With a win this past weekend at the Whoop-Up Days Pro Rodeo in Lethbridge, AB, Roworth has now passed the twenty thousand dollar mark in earnings. And the $2,351 won from the southern Alberta stop will leave him less than $2,400 out of the top spot in the updated Pro Rodeo Canada unofficial standings.

“There’s still a chance,” confirmed the 2009 Lakeland Rodeo Association bulldogging champ. “I was hoping to make the CFR and have a seat by now but not with $20,000 won. It’s a bit surprising.”

The Czar, AB, cowboy claimed the Lethbridge title with a 3.6-second run last Thursday night while using his traveling partner’s horse.

“I had a good steer and rode Ty Miller’s horse,” explained Roworth. “Ty hazed for me. I got a good start and things worked out.”

“That’s the first cheque I’ve won on anything other than my horse, Fly. He was a little sore and I think I’ll give him another week off. I’ll ride Ty’s horse (Chico) again and see from there.”

Other Lethbridge champions included reigning Canadian bull riding champion, Dakota Buttar. The Saskatchewan cowboy was 86.5 points on Kesler Rodeo’s 2012 Canadian Bull of the Year, Whiskey Jack, to take home $1,953, enough to boost his season earnings to nearly $35,000.

“I started an exercise plan last year and I’m continuing it this year,” began Buttar in describing his continued success on the Pro Rodeo Canada trail. “I think it really helps.”

Buttar’s Lethbridge win came on the heels of the previous weekend’s double successes. The accounting student topped the field at Jasper’s Pro Rodeo with an 86-point ride on Northcott’s Cool Pop, good for $1,504.75, then added a second place $777.55 cheque at Cranbrook Pro Rodeo with an 82-point performance.

The only other current leader in the Canadian standings to win a Lethbridge title was Louisiana’s Cody DeMoss. He was 83 points on Kesler Rodeo’s Paper Clip to win the saddle bronc event and $2,098.